KUCHING: The charred remains of a six-year-old boy was found inside one of the five double-storey terrace houses that were engulfed by fire at the people's housing scheme in Batu Kawa, here on Monday (Aug 28).

The remains of Zayyan Nazeem Zainal Abidin was found in a room on the upper level of one of the houses at 3.33pm by a team of 18 officers and firefighters from the Batu Lintang and Padungan fire stations who managed douse the fire.

"The victim was believed to be trapped inside the room during the incident and the charred remains were later handed over to the police for further action," said the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Operations Centre (PGO) spokesperson via an official WhatsApp statement.

The centre received an emergency call at 1.12pm, and upon arriving at the scene, residents informed the firefighters that a child was still trapped inside one of the burning houses.

"The cause of the fire and the extent of damages is being investigated," the spokeperson added.- Bernama